Alumni of the Professional Fellows Program (PFP) from Moscow and St.Petersburg recently conducted the first Russian Alumni Accelerator workshop in which community leaders gathered to learn about the concept and practice of social entrepreneurship. The Alumni Accelerator Workshops, which occur across Russia, aim to strengthen the PFP alumni network alongside opportunities to share knowledge and skills with colleagues from a diverse group of professionals in the fields of innovation and entrepreneurship. Empowering alumni to be proactive in addressing pressing economic issues, the event in St.Petersburg was the first Alumni Accelerator workshop to take place in 2014.
Hosted by the Center for Nonprofit Development (St. Petersburg), and co-sponsored by the US Embassy, the Alumni Accelerator attracted 30 stakeholders from Moscow, St. Petersburg, and other regions across Russia. The workshop served to raise awareness about the concept of social entrepreneurship and the interaction between universities and NGOs in promoting innovative solutions to social problems. University administrators and professors, nonprofit representatives, and various social entrepreneurs engaged in brainstorming sessions, case study activities, and other forms of group work, all expertly designed and led by Anastasiya Moskvina (PFP'11) and Denis Matvienko (PFP'13). The Accelerator prompted a meaningful and comprehensive dialogue about social entrepreneurship in Russia, with all participants expressing strong interest in continuing an exchange of views on this topic.
Anastasiya Moskvina, who is a project manager at the Center for Nonprofit Development, introduced the concept of social entrepreneurship and talked about the complexity of the term emphasizing how nonprofits can be more "entrepreneurial" in their move towards sustainability. Afterwards, she turned the floor over to social entrepreneurs who shared their success stories about integrating income and impact.
Denis Matvienko, Director of the Russian Association for Entrepreneurship Education (Moscow), shared his US experience and talked about entrepreneurship courses from his recent fellowship at the Jim Moran Institute for Global Entrepreneurship at the Florida State University. Denis demonstrated how these courses are an integral part of American curricula, thus moving the seminar towards a discussion on the collaboration between nonprofits and universities in fostering entrepreneurial culture. Two more alumni Dmitry Maslov (PFP '11, Ivanovo) and Olga Beglova (PFP'11, St.Petersburg) joined group work and final discussions, sharing their experience with social entrepreneurship in Russia. .
For more information about the PFP program, click here.